The College Fix

‘Queer and fat’ painter one of three top artists in competition

Paintings of obese lesbians were among the best work produced by Portland State University artists, according to a recent announcement.

The public university awarded one of its three $4,100 prizes to student Michelle Jackson for her paintings (pictured).

Another painting is two nude and fat lesbians lying next to each other.

“Michelle Jackson is a painter who identifies as queer and fat. Aware of the lack of representation, she is deeply committed to depicting marginalized people and bodies in a neutral or positive manner,” the university stated in its announcement of the 2024 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts award winners.

“She uses vibrant and bold colors to craft figurative works on the topics of fat liberation, LGBTQIA+ identities, mental health, neurodivergence, and silliness,” according to the university.

“Through her art, she endeavors to cultivate spaces of visibility, affirmation, and inclusion while exploring the multifaceted intersections of identity,” the university announced.

Other winners included a student who recently earned a “Comic Studies” certificate and a recent graduate student, Olivia DelGansio, with an advanced degree in “Contemporary Art Practice: Social Practice.”

The other two winners use “they” pronouns.

Delgansio “look[s] for ways to memorialize moments and relationships, often focusing on themes of daily life, grief, memory, queerness, and untold histories.”

The artist’s other work includes a fashion show with “queer teens” and “making a community newspaper celebrating queer history.”

Delgansio has a “BA in Sociology and Gender Studies from New College of Florida.”

Young America’s Foundation, which first reported on the award, commented on the problems with “fat liberation.”

“The ‘fat liberation movement,’ which is championed by leftist celebrities, academics, and activists, aims to normalize unhealthy lifestyles and promote a resigned attitude towards weight and health,” Nick Baker wrote for the New Guard.

Portland State embraces “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and the LGBT agenda in other ways.

For example, a 2022 DEI summit included segregated tables for black, Native American, “Latine,” and white participants, as previously reported by The College Fix. “Please sit at the tables that most align with your salient identities,” organizers told participants. “You are also welcome to self define multicultural and intersectional tables that extend beyond single definitions.”

The university also has a directory of LGBT students along with their sexualities and made-up genders. The list this most recent school year included “genderqueer,” “trans person/non-binary,” “Non-Binary Transmasculine,” “Genderfluid, Transfluid, Genderqueer,” “All, none, just me,” and “Queer- SaulChad,” as The Fix previously reported.

MORE: UC Berkeley creates ‘Latinx Thriving’ position to boost enrollment

IMAGES: Michelle Jackson via Portland State University

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